Chapter Seventeen #2
“You’ll never get away with this!” Raquelle snorted at the man with the gun, wondering what move she should try to break his concentration should all else fail.
She suspected Eddie was contemplating this as well, knowing that once they left the marina there would be no turning back for either of them.
Abercrombie replied confidently, “Watch me!”
She took that for what it was worth and, at the same time, caught some movement around the marina—people swiftly going this way and that—clearly indicating something was up.
This clued Raquelle in on the assumption that law enforcement was on the scene—now catching sight of Landon, in particular—and determined to stop Abercrombie from carrying out his murderous plans.
* * *
LANDON SPOTTED RAQUELLE and Eddie as they were being led by Yusef Abercrombie at gunpoint across the dock.
Obviously operating on behalf of Ivan Pimentel, Abercrombie intended to kill both Eddie—as an FBI CHS with damaging intel on their criminal enterprise—and Raquelle, who could identify Abercrombie.
I’m not going to let that happen, Landon told himself. Raquelle wasn’t going to finally be reunited with her brother, only for the two of them to end up murdered.
Not to mention Landon had other plans for his ex-wife that required that they both lead a very long life—with a family thrown into the joyful mix for good measure.
No one would take that away from them. Least of all the man who murdered Fred Davenport after the bomber of Eddie’s boat was unable to complete the assignment that would have ended Eddie’s life.
Landon scanned the marina, where he saw FBI snipers positioned with Rock River Arms LAR-15 assault rifles and ready to take out Abercrombie on orders to do so.
Meanwhile, Katie and Zach were in the process of bringing in Pimentel for his various crimes of art theft and forging Native American art as well as orchestrating the plot to murder Eddie—on at least three different occasions—and Raquelle.
Having evacuated the marina or issued shelter-in-place orders for as many as possible under short notice, it was time to move in on Abercrombie. Landon could only hope that this ended without Raquelle or Eddie getting hurt.
With his own weapon drawn, Landon waited as the trio moved down the walkway. He then blurted out, “Yusef Abercrombie, I have a warrant for your arrest. Drop the weapon and put your hands up.”
Instead of doing that, Abercrombie suddenly grabbed Raquelle around her neck and put the barrel of his gun up to her temple and said defiantly, “No can do, Agent Briscoe. You and the other agents are going to let the three of us leave here. If anyone tries to stop us, your ex-wife’s brains will be splattered onto your CI’s face, and that’ll be on you—”
Eddie tried to intervene. “Leave her alone, Yusef. I’ll take Raquelle’s place, and you can do what you and Ivan have been planning to do all along.”
Abercrombie kept the gun on Raquelle and said, “Nice try, but something tells me I’m much better off at the moment with her than you—no offense.” He glared at Landon. “What’s it going to be, Agent Briscoe—deal or no deal…?”
Landon had no intention of risking Raquelle’s life by taking one good shot at Abercrombie, no matter if he hit the mark.
The downside was far too great. On the other hand, from another vantage point, Matthew Ricci, a forty-five-year-old experienced sharpshooter for the FBI SWAT team was wholly reliable in eliminating the threat, if need be.
Just as Landon was about to give the go-ahead to take out Abercrombie, Eddie suddenly lunged toward him. This caught Abercrombie off guard, and he pointed the weapon at Eddie. Raquelle got in on the action when she slammed a solid fist in Abercrombie’s right eye.
He screamed in agony and while he was trying to decide who to shoot, Ricci beat him to the punch—firing a single shot that was deadly accurate—hitting Abercrombie squarely in the forehead.
The suspect went down like a failed rocket after its launch, dead on arrival.
The gun separated from Abercrombie’s grasp, landing harmlessly next to him.
Only then did Landon rush over to them, putting his own gun back inside the holster. He regarded his CI and said, “Good to see you again, Eddie.”
Looking a bit frazzled but clearly counting his blessings, Eddie responded tentatively, “Yeah, you too.”
Landon gave him a pat on the back and turned to Raquelle. He hugged her, not wanting to let her go but forcing himself to do so. “I was afraid I might lose you for a moment there.”
“So was I,” she admitted. “But it didn’t happen, thank goodness.”
With a slight smile, he asked her, “Where did that punch come from?”
“Somewhere deep inside me, itching to come out at an opportune moment.” Raquelle drew a breath, glancing at Abercrombie, who was lying there awkwardly. “He had that coming to him,” she declared.
“At the very least,” Landon concurred while thinking appropriately, And then some.
He gazed at Ivan Pimentel’s right-hand man and the firearm he fully intended to use to kill Raquelle and Eddie.
Landon recognized it as an FNX-45 Tactical semi-automatic pistol, equipped with a suppressor.
He wondered if Abercrombie had used the weapon under Pimentel’s authority to finish off others in his criminal orbit that broke the rules.
As members of the Bureau’s Critical Incident Response Group and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Regional Investigative Unit took over, Landon told Eddie, “I’ll need you to come to the field office to give a statement on what you have for me and have been up to lately—”
Eddie nodded. “I can do that,” he said. “I borrowed my friend Rex Shepherd’s Mitsubishi Outlander. I’ll follow you there.”
“Okay.” Landon was glad that the bartender had Eddie’s back in his time of need. Just as he himself had Raquelle’s back every step of the way.
“I’d like to be there with Eddie,” she said, eyeing Landon.
Though he fully understood where she was coming from in wanting to support her brother, Landon had to say in response, wanting to keep this as professional as possible, “I think it’s best that I speak with him alone.”
Raquelle nodded acquiescently. She squeezed her brother’s hand. “Everything will be all right.”
Eddie met her gaze contemplatively. “Yeah.”
Landon felt the same way, more or less, optimistic that they had cleared a major hurdle with Eddie still around to help secure the case against Ivan Pimentel. This notwithstanding, he was well aware that they still had some hoops to go through and potentially treacherous roads ahead.